


The man on the field

by Naji_Dragonchild



Series: Shorts for the AU I'll probably never write [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Absent Parents, Established Relationship, Light Angst, Past Character Death, Siblings, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:40:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24703951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naji_Dragonchild/pseuds/Naji_Dragonchild
Summary: A short of Janus coming home to his brother after a long day.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders
Series: Shorts for the AU I'll probably never write [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1785958
Kudos: 15





	The man on the field

The man stood on in the backyard.  
Like he always did.  
Janus didn't know what he looked like or where in the backyard he stood. He couldn't even remember when he had been taught not to look outside after sundown. 'Cause if he did that he might accidentally look at the man on the field. According to his parents, something bad would happen if anyone looked at the man.  
It wasn't a big deal anymore. It had become as normal as the moving portraits, the kitchen cabinet that changed its contents depending on what you felt when you opened it, the upstairs bathroom that sometimes disappeared or the apple tree that followed its own seasons sometimes blooming in winter.  
It was just another part of his life.  
Janus hadn't meant to come home this late.  
It had just happened when Mr Jackson had kept him after class and asked where his parents where.  
He had answered the same way he always did.

"They're on a business trip."

"They'll be home soon."

"No, I can't give you a number to call them."

"Yes, my brother and I are provided for."

He wished the teachers would just leave him alone. What were they expecting? For him to suddenly change his answers?  
Hell no.

He had no idea if his brother got this kind of questions as well if he did he never bothered to mention it. 

The house was helpful in the 'provided for' matter not just because of the cabinet but also because they had warm water and electricity without ever paying any bills since their parents had left.  
Janus hadn't even known about bills until he was in middle school.  
They also had the safe in the attic with enough money for probably another twenty years.

Janus unlocked the door and let himself inside.  
He was met with the warm smell of meat and tomatoes.

"I'm home!" he called as he kicked off his boots and hung up his coat.

No response but this late he couldn't really expect anything else.  
Virgil was probably either asleep or listening to music so Janus made his way towards the kitchen.  
The dishwasher was running and an empty pot with some rests of tomato sauce left inside. No actual food though so he went over to the living room instead.

A bowl of spaghetti with meatballs stood on the table, still steaming a little as well as two plates, two glasses and two sets of cutlery.  
Unused.  
Virgil had waited for him.  
Dammit.

Janus looked around and found his brother curled up on one of the armchairs with his earphones on and eyes glued to his phone.  
Virgil looked up at him slowly.

"I'm sorry," Janus said past the clump of guilt forming in his throat. "I didn't mean to keep you waiting."

Virgil blinked, got up and walked past Janus to the table. His expression didn't betray anything. He just looked tired.

Janus sat down across from Virgil.  
They ate in silence and Janus wasn't sure if there was anything he should bring up or if it was better to leave the quiet be.

"I saw Anton in the mirror again," Virgil said after a while.

Janus forced himself not to sigh. "No, you didn't. Because Anton is dead," he said. He didn't want to talk about this again. It had been a bad day already. "You need to accept that. Anton and Andy are both _gone_."

"I did see him," Virgil insisted. "That's why I couldn't do my lipstick properly. He kept getting in the way."

This time Janus did sigh. Virgil was indeed not wearing his usual black lipstick.

" _He's dead!_ A dead person can't stop you from putting on make-up!" 

Virgil went quiet but Janus could tell he wanted to say more.

"Look, I get that it's hard," Janus said after taking a deep breath, "but you need to let go. You need to accept that they're gone. They're not ghosts, they're not haunting us, they're just gone."

Virgil took his plate and left the room without another word.  
Janus heard him storm up the stairs and then slam a door. 

It had been their first talk in a week thanks to school and other stuff that had just somehow come up and had gotten in the way of them seeing each other.  
If Janus was honest he wasn't even sure what Virgil spend his time with and Virgil probably didn't really know what he did either.

He sighed and got up to clear the table and tidy up the kitchen.  
Once he was done he opened the small cabinet. A bowl of fudge stood there, waiting for him. Not really what he had expected but he took it, whispering a "Thank you" to the house before going up to his room.

He sat the bowl down at his desk, got out a piece of paper and started writing.

'Dear Mum and Dad,...'

**Author's Note:**

> This is a one-shot for 'The Au I'll never write', as I've come to call it. And I stand by that. I will write one-shots like this one but I likely won't sit down and tell you the full story.  
> There will be references to it in these shorts (how could there not), maybe even excerpts from it and I will answer questions if asked but there'll probably never be more than shorts.
> 
> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this.


End file.
